Finally, Abbott delivers for Houston

Express-News Editorial Board

October 10, 2017

Photo: Yi-Chin Lee /Houston Chronicle

Gov.r Greg Abbott presents a $50 million dollar check from the state to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to assist the city with Hurricane Harvey relief during a joint press conference at Houston City Hall on Sept. 29. Why did the route to the solution have to be so drawn out?

Gov.r Greg Abbott presents a $50 million dollar check from the...

By and large, Gov. Greg Abbott has shown commendable and inclusive leadership in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, but his initial resistance to aiding Houston was baffling.

He eventually came through for Houston — delivering a $50 million check and pledging to tap the rainy day fund in 2019, or possibly sooner. But getting to this point was unnecessarily difficult.

In early September, Abbott had ruled out tapping the state’s $10 billion rainy day fund to help Houston and other coastal cities battered and flooded from Hurricane Harvey. That was odd. Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on the Houston area. If that’s not enough rain to tap the rainy day fund, what is?

In response, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he would pursue a one-time property tax increase to raise $50 million to clean up debris and other forms of storm relief. It wasn’t a popular idea, costing the average Houston homeowner $48 on top of storm damage. But Turner credibly said he was out of options.

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Abbott likened the possible tax increase to a hostage situation, saying “It raises a concern that the mayor seems to be using this as hostage to raise taxes when, in reality, the city of Houston is sitting on hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that he’s not tapping into.”

But that money is not available for hurricane relief. At any rate, Abbott’s message was not well-received.

Soon after, Abbott and Turner had worked out their differences. Abbott handed Turner a $50 million check from the governor’s $100 million Disaster Relief Fund. Turner dropped the property tax increase idea. And Abbott said the rainy day fund would be tapped to help cover costs, either in the 2019 regular session or possibly in a special session. He doesn’t want to tap the Rainy Day Fund until the full cost of the storm is clearer.

But why did this take so long in the face of such obvious need?

Abbott could have just tapped the Disaster Relief Fund and committed to using the rainy day fund at a later date without any hassle or drama. Instead, we witnessed an almost boilerplate partisan fight about taxes and spending.

This is not the time or the issue for that fight.

Generally, we’ve appreciated Abbott’s leadership in response to the storm. His appointment of Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp to lead the recovery was needed. His negotiations with the federal government have been fruitful.

Going forward, Abbott will need to sustain this kind of leadership as Houston and others rebuild. This will require expensive projects to mitigate flooding and hurricane damage. It will mean making decisions about where not to rebuild. It will mean honestly assessing climate science.